The Myth of Jiulong
According to legend，the ancestor of the Bai people was a woman.
In ancient times，there was an Ailao Kingdom under Ailao Mountain.Although it was a kingdom，at the beginning of the division of the sky and the earth，people were rarely few.There lived only one woman，whose name was Shayi.Sometimes she went fishing in the river and sometimes she went up the mountain to collect wild fruits.It was said that she could speak bird language and understand the dragon's sounds.Because there was no boat，she went to the river by tying a large piece of wood to the trunk with rattan，putting it into the water，and riding on the wood to catch fish.One day，the rattan broke and the wood floated away.She fell into the water and tried her best to swim out.Suddenly she saw a piece of yellow wood floating towards her against the downstream.She immediately grabbed the wood and rode up.The wood was floating on her legs up and down and carried her to the shore without paddling.From then on，every time she rode wood to catch fish，she returned home with good harvest.She was very happy and tied the wood to the shore with rattan as her fishing boat.The yellow wood also became her only partner.During the day，they went fishing together，and at night she felt vaguely that a man sleeping with her.After a month，she was pregnant.Eight or nine months later，she felt a pain in the abdomen and then she gave birth to ten leather pockets one after another.Looking at the ten leather pockets，she fainted with fear.
When she woke up，she saw that the leather pockets were still there and she did not know how to deal with it.Fortunately，she knew languages of birds and beasts，so she shouted out.After shouting for a while，a female dog came in and licked each leather pocket for her.It was really strange that after the female dog licked each leather pocket to open，a little baby climbed out of it.After ten little babies came out，they all scrambled to touch her arms.She picked up the babies and fed them one by one.At this moment，a yellow dragon came in with a swish and said to Shayi，“My girl！Since you took great pains to have babies，let me help you！”Shayi said，“You are so frightening like that.Can you transfer into a man？”The yellow dragon shook himself a little bit and transferred into a handsome man.Shayi suddenly recognized him and said，“It's you.”The yellow dragon said，“To tell you the truth，I am the yellow dragon of Lancang River.These ten children are our sons.You are tired to give birth to them.Let me bring them up！”When the nine sons listened to what the dragon said，they all ran away.Only the youngest one stayed and sucked Shayi's breast.The yellow dragon said，“Put him down and let him sit down.I'll lick him.”The yellow dragon licked his youngest son with his tongue while Shayi said，“Give him a name.”The yellow dragon said，“The boy is sitting behind me，so just call him‘Jiulong’.”Shayi said happily，“‘Jiu’means‘back’and‘long’means‘sitting with’in Bai language.It is a very good name.Just call him Jiulong.”The yellow dragon added，“As being the dragon's sons，they should be marked with a dragon tattoo.”Shayi said，“Can the children stand the pains to be carved with a tattoo？”The yellow dragon said，“To prick their backs and legs with bone needles gently，smear black mud on it，and then wash the mud away，they will get the dragon tattoo without being hurt.Don't worry.Let me do it.”With saying it，the yellow dragon carved the dragon tattoo on their bodies，and then dressed them in clothes made of bark with a dragon tail on the back.
Fourteen years later，the ten sons grew up.It happened that a couple named Nuboxi had ten daughters at the foot of Ailao Mountain.Therefore，Shayi's ten sons married Nuboxi's ten daughters.After they got married，the number of people in Ailao Mountain increased and a leader was needed to manage things.Although Jiulong was the youngest one，he was very smart，so he was elected the leader by his brothers and other people.
One day，a white-haired old man came up to Ailao Mountain and said to Shayi，“Your youngest son Jiulong has the privilege of being a king.Unfortunately，there is no post for a king in Jinchi；Erhai Lake is the place where a lot of talented people are living，while there is a post but no king，so you should move to the place where Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake are located！”Shayi consulted with the yellow dragon，and he also agreed.So Shayi took the ten sons and their wives to the place between Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake to settle down.Sure enough，the tribes from Kunming and some clans here were choosing a king，and they supported Jiulong as the King for the Bai people.After he became the king，Jiulong elected many tribal leaders.After that，the couples of ten brothers and sisters，including Jiulong，gave birth to children and became the top ten surnames of“Erhe Man”：Dong，Yang，Zhao，Li，Duan，He，Shi，Hong，Yan and Yin.Since then，the Bai people have called themselves the descendants of Jiulong.